Light olefins are important feed materials for the production of many chemicals, and products, such as polyethylene. The production of light olefins, and in particular ethylene, is through steam or catalytic cracking processes. The cracking processes take larger hydrocarbons, such as paraffins, and convert the larger hydrocarbons to smaller hydrocarbons products. The primary product is ethylene. However, there are numerous other chemicals produced in the process. Among the many byproducts are hydrogen, methane, acetylene, ethane. Also contaminants are generated in the process, such as CO, CO2, and H2S. To produce a high quality ethylene product, the contaminants and byproducts are removed to achieve a purity level of greater than 99.9% by volume of ethylene. In order to achieve this, the acid gases must be removed as well as the other by products.
In the process of purification, a portion of the ethylene is lost to the waste streams. Methods of reducing loss and increasing yields can have significant economic benefits.